Island
by Kari-san
Summary: This story is being transferred somewhere else, where it is being fixed up and stuff, so...Unless you wanna see bad writing, don't go here, lol.
1. Confusion

_Author's Note: I figured since I haven't been back here for about two and a half years, I'd re-write/spell correct the chapters on here. Here's the second, probably better version of chapter one of Island._

Confusion

Long ago in a lost age, the world is divided into four nations: Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads. Within each nation, there is a remarkable order of men and women called the "benders" who can learn to harness their inborn talent and manipulate their native element. Bending is a powerful form combining martial art and elemental magic.

In each generation, only one bender is solely capable of controlling all four elements. That bender is the Avatar. The Avatar is the spirit of the world manifested in human form. When the Avatar dies, it reincarnates into the next nation in the cycle. Starting with the mastery of his or her native element, the Avatar learns to bend all four elements. Throughout the ages, the countless incarnations of the Avatar have served to keep the four nations in harmony.

However, that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Just as the world needed the Avatar the most, he mysteriously vanished. A hundred years later, the Fire Nation is near final victory in its ruthless war of world domination. The Air Nomads were destroyed, the Air Temples ravished, and all airbender monks eradicated. The Water Tribes were raided and driven to the brink of extinction. The Earth Kingdom remains and fights a hopeless war against the Fire Nation. Many believe the Avatar was never reborn into the Air Nomads and the cycle is broken.

In the desolated South Pole, a lone Water tribe struggles to survive. It is here that the village's last remaining waterbender Katara and her warrior brother Sokka rescue a strange 12-year-old boy named Aang who has been suspended in hibernation in an iceberg. The tribe soon discovers that Aang is not only an Airbender--the extinct race no one has seen in a century--but also the long lost Avatar. Now Katara and Sokka must safeguard the child Avatar in his journey to master all four elements and save the world from the Fire Nation. At the moment…That wasn't going so well.

Letting out a loud yawn, Sokka stretched out his arms as dawn aroused the group of teenagers. Aang was still sleeping, and Katara wasn't exactly awake yet either. "Hey Appa…" Aang said, opening his eyes at last and patting the white, snowy fur of his large Bison friend, and soul companion he happened to be sleeping against. Sokka jumped up from his sleeping bag and started over to the reigns on Appa's back. Appa carried a large saddle, for he was a flying bison, and obviously needed SOMETHING latched onto him so people could ride him. Sokka sat down and got comfy. "Okay, soo…which way are we supposed to go exactly…" He pondered for a minute, scratching his head and looking at the reigns as if trying to figure out what to do next. Suddenly, a huge fire ball flew pass his head, breaking through his train of thought. "YAAAHH!" Screaming in surprise, he looked around wildly, loosing his balance as he did so.  
He fell off of Appa, his eyes wide, only holding on be the reigns, and then Appa turned sharply right by the pull of the reigns. Katara rolled off auppa's saddle, and she snapped awake just in time to grab onto a tuff of fur in desperation. "SOKKA! WHAT DID YOU DO NOW!" She yelled loudly, looking angry. Katara slipped on her grip as Appa turned. "AAAAAHHH!"

The air ripped threw her hair, stabbing like tiny needles at her skin, and suddenly it felt so cold, she froze up for a moment. Only years of living in arctic weather kept her from blacking out right at that moment from the ocean temperature. She swam up to the top, gasping as she reached the surface, and heard a ship coming. Turning around in the water, she gasped in horror…"Zuko…" she breathed.

Prince Zuko followed the figure fall from the flying bison into the ocean with a golden telescope, narrowing his eyes in aggravation, just itching to jump into action. 'Was that the Avatar?' he thought. He hoped the falling figure was. Then all this would finally be over. He'd have his honor back and he could go home…. He put the scope down carelessly and shed his shirt, for it would only weigh him down, and, ignoring his Uncle's yells, he dived into the icy water after grabbing a strange orb his uncle threw at him, though he seemed to know exactly what to do with it.

Katara saw someone jump out of the boat at 50 feet away and she opened her eyes wide with terror, a sinking feeling forming in her stomach. She took a large breath and went underwater. She started swimming as fast as she could, and saw a huge form diving toward the waters surface, Aang! She broke to the surface, and the bison slowed down, Aang reaching out to Katara "Katara! Grab my hand!" Katara reached out with relief on her face. "Wheres Sokka!" "He's hanging in over here!" Aang smiled widely. Katara felt his finger tips, starting to smile herself, and suddenly something gripped her left ankle firmly, and pulled. "AA-!" She dunked under, her scream cut off. The last thing she had heard above water was Aang's voice, but she didn't have enough time to make it out. She whirled her waist around, and found a dark face two inches from her own. "Zuko!" She said, but it only came out in useless bubbles of air. Zuko smirked; a few bubbles escaped his lips that seemed to be telling her that she had no way out. He was pulling her further down and she struggled and kicked, but after a few minutes she was weakening, and blackness started to shroud her vision. Looking up at the glittering surface about, she started closing her eyes.

"KATARA!" Aang screamed as her face disappeared. He dived in after her and swam down towards the ocean floor. He saw two dark figures, and hid behind a rock covered in sea weed. Aang looked over and saw Katara, but she was unconscious. She looked so weak that Aang wanted to cry out and tell her he was there, though he knew that wouldn't help him _or_ her unless he caught the other figure by surprise. He swam to a rock about 15 feet away from the two, and let out a gagging sort of noise at what he say, grabbing at his throat. It was sort of humorous. Zuko was clutching something that looked to be giving him air, and he was leaving Katara without any. 'How can he just let her suffer like that? She needs AIR! She needs-' Stopping in mid-thought, his face twisted in disgust….Then horror……Then pure hatred. Zuko was kissing Katara.

Zuko had been threw his fair share of underwater training and knew what he had to do, though thinking about it made him a bit sick to the stomach. He looked at the water peasant with a straight, sickly look, and using the oxygen from the orb uncle Iroh gave him, gave her air. He turned around, and started swimming back towards the ship at high speed.

Aang couldn't think, it just happened.

A screeching noise filled the ocean. Zuko let out bubbles of a scream, and dropped Katara in surprise, who woke up with a jolt, and gulped down a ton of water. Zuko snapped around, and saw the avatar, his eyes and marks glowing white. A tornado that seemed to have come from above hit the ocean floor with a rumbling thunder, and Aang woke from his Avatar state. He didn't even glance at his creation however. His eyes were all for Zuko, hatred bubbling in his stomach. Zuko grabbed Katara as the water tornado came at him, and Aang screamed out a flow of bubbles as Zuko started off faster then before, and chased after him.

All when black...

Sokka yelled "AANG! COME BACK HERE!" He heard thunder over head, "Oh, NOW what!" He looked up with his lower lip sticking out in irritation, and he saw a tornado forming right over his head "Oh…" It struck down "NOOO!-"


	2. The Island

_Author's Note: I feel so bad for forgetting about this account. I mean seriously. Who forgets they have a FANFICTION account? Anyway, here's the renewed chapter two. Chapter three is almost done. It won't take long to finish the renewal stuff, and then I'll continue my story._

The Island

Zuko woke up, groaning. Rolling over, he coughed, water hitting the ground as he rasped. Rubbing his throat, a picture formed in his head that confused him….the face of the Avatar as the tornado came towards him. Why had he looked at him with so much hatred? What had he done?

He noticed he was holding someone's hand. He looked down to see the water peasant, water streaming down her pale face, exhaustion showing through her closed eyes. Every thing that had happened rushed through his head now. Zuko smirked in excitement. Of course! Now the avatar had to come. And when he did…Zuko got up and lifted the girl onto his back, beginning to walk. He looked around as he walked with interest, which soon turned out to be confuddlement. "Where…" He began under his breath. "Uncle Iroh, I hate it when you're right." He could hear his uncle's voice now 'Don't just jump for a door when it opens for you Zuko, think it over, examine the texture first, scan the area the door gives you…' Zuko sighed just thinking about his uncle's crazy little 'tips', and saw a forest to his right. He started towards what looked like a deer trail or something and when he got there he noticed that this trail had been man made. He bent down and let some dirt and sand go threw his fingers. "Who would live in a place like this?" he asked roughly. Suddenly something hit him over his head and kicked his back. He fell over, the water peasant girl was awake apparently, and started to run back to the beach. Zuko got up quickly in anger and ran after her. She was yelling "SOKKA! AANG! AANG!" which only made Zuko smile. "You won't find them. You're stuck with me now, and I'm not letting you go that easily."

Katara raced into the water, and saw a tornado moving away, and off into the distance. "No…SOKKA!"

Suddenly someone tackled her around the middle, and the two teens went under. She struggled, and black hair flew into her vision. it was Zuko. Of course it was Zuko. He had been the one who had dragged her down, who else could it have been…Katara screamed and started accusing him right and left in bubbles of air as Zuko pulled her to the surface again. "LET ME GO! WHERES AANG! WHY DID Y-" Zuko put a hand over her mouth, and put her hands behind her back with his over hands like a cop or something. He went to her ear in annoyance. "Do you hear that? It's called silence. Now look, we're both stuck in this place right now, so we have to work together to get out of it!" He said in a harsh whisper. 'I need to gain her trust if we're ever gonna get anywhere.' he thought. Katara glared forward, and as he loosened his grip, she struggled again, "FINE! HAVE IT YOUR WAY!" He yelled, and took out rope he carried with him (at all times), and tied her hands behind her back. Katara bit his hand, and his face screwed up in pain. He let her go and she ran a few feet, turned, and said with hatred- "Where is my brother?!"

Katara had a hundred questions in her mind right now, but she didn't trust Zuko, so she would have to limit them. She watched Zuko, imagining a thousand terrible things happening to him. He looked just as angry as her "How should I know!" Katara's anger was growing past her control, and then it broke, turning to tears of frustration. "Aang? What about him? What did you do to Aang!" Zuko smirked "Since he won't leave you behind, he'll come right to us." He said simply. Katara's eyes widened "YOU FILTH!" She started to run at him, and Zuko punched, but no fire came, He stared at his hands, "What th-"Katara rammed into him, yelling like mad. "AANG WON'T FALL FOR YOUR TRICKS! He's not going to be caught by the likes of YOU!" Tears hit Zuko's cheek as she rampaged on. Zuko got up and grabbed her by the hair, "Augh!" Zuko smiled, "Oh, I think he will." He pointed to the sky, and Katara saw the bison headed this way "no…" she whispered. "Oh yes." Zuko smirked.

Aang woke up, and he looked around. He was on a beach, and he saw Appa flying by, "HEY! SOKKA!...SOKKA! I'M OVER HERE!" He yelled out, jumping to his feet. The bison didn't turn though…Aang sighed, and sat back down, "Aww man…why couldn't he hear me? He loo-KATARA!" a thought just hit him, Sokka must have seen Katara on the other side of the beach! Aang jumped up once again, and started to run into the forest's edge. This could give him the upper edge. He could be invisible in the brush.

Appa landed in front of the two and Katara froze as Zuko shoved her into the water, and ran to the bison. Zuko smiled, and jumped into the saddle. "Avatar!" he yelled in excitement. He stopped. There was no one driving the bison…"NO!" He kicked the saddle and jumped off of the bison, stomping towards the peasant. Katara scrambled back, and Zuko grabbed her by her collar, his cold eyes staring at her with no mercy as she felt her feet leave the waters sandy floor. "You…he must have heard all of your noise!" He looked as if it was causing him much pain not to just knock her head off right then and there. "No matter, he's got to come sooner or later!" Katara glared at him. It was a bit hard to breath, and she felt like the fear in her stomach would engulf her, but she couldn't give him that satisfaction. He dropped her and sighed, taking out a knife. Katara gulped, but all he did was cut her loose. "Don't try to run. Because I WILL find you." Katara breathed out relief. She stood up and an apple was thrown at her. She caught it in bewilderment. "Here, come on, let's get out of here." Katara's eyes stung. He was right, Aang would come, she knew that much, but…she would stop him from catching him, she would hold him off, and force Aang to leave, she would tell him she would be fine…though she WOULDN'T be…She muttered hatred to herself. "Quiet peasant! I'm trying to THINK!" Katara growled, and chucked the apple at him. It hit the side of his head. "What's your problem? I try to be nice and give you something to eat, and you throw it at me! OUCH!" A rock hit his head, "I dare you to do that, ONE more time!" Katara picked up what must have been a 20 pound rock with both hands, and she threw it at him with all her might, Zuko dodged it with what might have been grace if it wasn't for the anger mixed with it, and went to the ground, tripping her, "HUP!" She hit the ground. Zuko got up, brushed himself off, and reached out his hand and asked "Truce?" Katara glared at him. 'I'll escape at sun set, right when it gets dark and he goes to sleep…' she thought, irritated. "Fine. Only for now though!" Zuko pulled her up, and shook her hand "Good, it was getting kind of boring."


	3. This is the Life

This is the Life

This is the Life

Sokka woke up and moaned. "Ungh…what happened?" He sat up, rubbing his head, but he stopped when he saw his surroundings. He was in a tent, lying on a bed that was not his. How did he know? Easy. He hadn't gotten to sleep on a bed in forever. It was just Appa or a sleeping bag. "AAAH!" He fell off of the bed, sobbed, and then a pair of feet stopped right in front of him, golden light leaking in from an open doorway. "Hmmf?" He lifted his head, and a girl roughly his age looked down at him, her eye brow raised in slight disapproval at him being on the floor. "I see your awake then?" She asked. Her voice was rough, as if she had been threw a thousand hardships and he was just some silly kid. He frowned. Jumping to his feet, he brushed himself off, "I meant to do that, I was just uh…" He bent down and put a finger across the floor "Checking to see if this room was clean enough for someone as important as me." He said confidently. "So uh…what's your name?" He asked standing straight again. He was at least three inches taller then her. "My names Jesse, yours?" she said, her bottom lip sticking out as if climbing to the challenge of the floor being clean. He stopped "That's short for something like Jessica, right? Cuz I mean, no one would give a girl a boys-" "It's not short for anything." She said sharply

"Jesse can be a girls name too, what's yours? Macho man? Ruler of all manly?" She asked.

Sokka glared at her, pushing his bottom lip up more than hers. "I don't like you."

"Nor I. Since we're on the same page, and since you seem so interested in the dust on the floor, I doubt you'd mind doing me a little favor." Sokka looked down at her "Well, okay! I knew you would warm up to….me?" She had opened a closet in the room, and a pile of clothes as tall as him met his eyes. "I'm too busy to do the laundry. I'm sure you know how to do it." she smiled, and went towards the door leaving Sokka staring at all the clothes. She stepped outside, and a man bumped into her. "Hey, watch where you're going!" the man yelled down at the girl. She had brunet hair that looked long enough to go down to her waist, but it was up in a bun, with two strands of hair lying on either side in front. She had sapphire blue eyes, and wore a blue tank top, and a long, side-ruffled blue skirt. It looked sort of like a regulation outfit or something. Jesse glared at the man "Sorry." She bowed, even though she wasn't sorry in the least. She stepped aside as the man walked towards a hut and glared after him, her eyes showing yet again, more disapproval. It looked a bit like she disliked men. Jesse turned away while shaking her head and walked towards a trail at the entrance to the forest that seemed to surround the small tent-shrouded area..

Sokka kicked the clothes, grumbling and muttering, anger on his square, tannish face. "I'm not doing THIS! This is _**girl**_ work! I'm gonna go give that _girl_ a piece of my mind!" He ran outside after throwing the shabby tent flap open with a little yell, and saw her walking around a corner of a trail in the woods. "Hmph!" he snarled. Making loud noises made him feel better in situations he didn't like. He ran after her.

Jesse walked into a clearing, and a sleek wooden cross was standing there, surrounded by a bunch of wild flowers, vines growing up it and through cracks in it's surface. She closed her eyes, and knelt down while pulling out some flowers. Lying them down in front of the grave, she let her hands rest there for a moment.

Sokka ran into the small clearing as she finished, and yelled "HEY! HEY YOU!" but his face fell a bit and he stopped, his eyes widely staring at the grave. Jesse snapped around with a scary look and stood up. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Sokka just stood there, "WELL? WHAT DO YOU WANT!" Straightening his face against her yells, he looked down and off to the side. "Nothing, sorry." He said quietly. He turned around and started to walk away, and not towards the trail. Jesse glared, her eyes watery. Taking in deep breaths she yelled with furry, "WHY THE SUDDEN CHANGE OF MIND?!HUH!?" provoking him into a fight. Sokka just kept his head down and turned the corner, going into the thick woods. When she couldn't see him, he ran off.

Jesse kicked the ground with frustration and her eyes filled with tears. "Stupid men." She sniffed, glaring at a rock as if it was all it's fault that men were so dumb. So rude and snobbish. Suddenly she heard a rustling noise behind the trees and snapped around. Her eyes widened in terror.

"AAAAAAAAAH!"

Sokka was sitting on a rock.

'_Why did they come here? What did we do?!_'

'_I don't know Katara, but we have to get out of here, the fire benders could be coming back…Crying won't bring mom back. And staying here will only get us killed.'_

Sokka closed his eyes, and put his hand to his forehead. Katara…Jesse reminded him of her sister when their parents died…he didn't know why…"AAAAAAAAAH!"

Sokka snapped around at a loud scream and for a second, he was terrified. "KATARA!" No, that wasn't Katara. Jesse? Sokka got up and ran back to the clearing, "Jesse?" Sokka looked around, "Where are you!" It was getting dark out. Had he been unconcious most of the day? "JESSE!" He called out louder, getting a bad feeling. Without any warning, someone hit him over the hit, and he stared forward, falling towards the ground.

"Jesse and the boy are gone! Jesse's gone! They took her!" A girl screamed. The girl had brown hair so dark it was almost black, and she had brown eyes, and wore a plain green dress. "They have her! The firebenders!" The man Jesse had run into before, seemingly about 20, looked out of his hut door, "The firebenders?! Alisha, are you sure?" The girl nodded vigorously, glad at least someone was paying attention to her yells of panic. "They left a burn mark on Tom's grave!"

The man shook his head "Silly girl…I told her not to go into the woods when it starts to get dark! Tom's dead, she needs to learn to let him go!" Alisha winced at the bitterness in his voice, and asked "What are we going to do?" "Nothing. It's too late for her now; we'd need a miracle to find them!" Alisha glowered for a second…"We could…use my-"No bending! Its too risky. if you did find them, they'd imprison you for earthbending anyway!" "I don't CARE! You shouldn't either! I'm going to go look for her!" Alisha stomped towards the woods "YOUR CRAZY!"..."You're going to get your self KILLED!" She ignored him, and entered the woods anyways. The villagers watched her go, and being all cowards…none followed.

Sokka came around, and when he did, he sort of wished he hadn't. He was tied up to a pole in the middle of a large tent, someone else tied up on the other side of the pole. They weren't awake. Sokka groaned, seeing the Fire Nation emblem. "Do they enjoy ruining my life?" he asked himself, leaning his head back against the pole. The other form stirred. "Yeah. They love ruining our lives. They get a big kick out of it." "Jesse?" "Who's Jesse?" "A girl, about-"Sokka begain- "oh, HER. Tough luck kid, they took the girl to…'you know where' a long time ago." The girl said. Sokka paused for a moment, "Oh, right."… "Where is that?" He whispered, he had a feeling that the girl he was talking to, was in fact, a nut case.

"Let me go!" Jesse yelled in a venomous voice to a man in fire nation armor. He, like all of the fire nation lackies, smelled as if he was covered in soot. In answer, the man twisted her arm back "MMM!" She bit her lip to muffle the yelp of surprised pain, the twist leaving her arm throbbing so bad she felt as if each throb was her own heart beat. "Zhao doesn't have time for screaming little kids, so let's grow up, shall we?" The guy grunted, 'How can he say that! He's barely two years older then ME!' she thought in anger. She was just about to protest once more, when the door swung open, and the man kicked her inside. She rolled, and jumped back to her feet (like a ninja!) and the door snapped shut behind her. "Hello, hello, hello…what do we have here? An earthbender out in the middle of no where? I think not. Where is your village, earthbender? And I will let you go." Jesse froze, 'He thinks I'm an earthbender?' "Well, hurry up. Waiting makes me…angry." A fire ball grew in his hands. 'If he finds out I'm a waterbender, he'll kill me, so I probably better stay one step ahead…or he'll kill me like how he killed Tom.' "I don't know what you're talking about. I came from a ship…A… Trade ship. We came to bury men and children that did not make the journey…." Jesse gave a little fake sob as she spoke, keeping her head down all the same. Zhao sighed "Hmm…I see…" She looked just in time to see a fist hit the side of her face "Liar! Now tell me, or I'll get to more drastic measures!" She slammed into a wall from his brut force and tried to show no emotion, but it wasn't working very well. "Don't call me a LIAR!" She spat back, making Zhao smile. "You look familiar. Have I threatened you before?" Jesse glared at him, "Oh, I see, Tom's little sister he was so eager to tell us about…What was it, Jesse? Is that your name?" He gave a cruel, curled up smile. "His death was necessary, so let's move on shall we?" Sullenly she opened her mouth to speak, and Zhao immediately shut up, eager to hear.

"The village is under ground."

"Those cleaver little devils!" Zhao said angrily. He seemed to be staring straight through her, as if he could already see the village packed with earthbenders. His eyes practically reflected his own sickening excitement as he picked out just what he would do when he caught the people in her 'underground village'. "Thanks to you, you are of no other use to me" he said, and a guard came up and twisted her arm behind her back. Wincing, she tried to struggle, but it proved to be difficult. "You have what you want, what else do you need me for?" she spat, her brown hair getting in her face from her useless struggle. Zhao was closing the door as the guard lead her out, completely ignoring her, as if she wasn't worth any of his time. "Answer me Zhao!"

"ZHAO!" She struggled a bit more forcefully, and the guard sighed before lazily punching her in the gut. Jesse doubled over with a rasp. Then next thing, she was tied up to a pole. "Curse that man…" she said in a horse voice, giving a painful, throat ripping cough. "Oh, you're back?" A familiar voice called from behind her. She turned, and she saw the back of Sokka's head "YOU!" "My names Sokka. SA-KA." Jesse smiled "Wait, how did YOU get here? I thought someone as strong and 'manly' as you, could take care yourself." She said suddenly. Why the hell was he there, and why was she stuck with him again? "I can! Just…not at the moment."


	4. Forest Trouble

Forest Trouble

**Forest Trouble**

The fire cracked as if in a soothing melody as Zuko breathed in the smell of ash. He inhaled deeply, and was cut off from his tranquility when he heard a rustling sound nearby. He looked over and saw Katara had inched over to the edge of the small clearing they had found in the forest. "Where are you going?" "AH!" She snapped around "I was going to get some water!" she said stupidly. Zuko chuckled, "Good, I was getting kind of thirsty myself" Katara cocked her head slightly to one side "W-" he threw a canteen at her. "I'll know if you don't come back" He said. Katara glared at him "You know-" Zuko was suddenly right behind her, "Go on. I saw a river just around the corner." Katara put a finger up to protest, but Zuko shoved her into the pathway that he'd had made on the way here.

"-I'll know if you don't come back- Ha!" Katara muttered in spite of herself as she just finished filling up Zuko's canteen. "I hate that guy! I wish that he would just leave Aang and me alone." She got up, still grumbling like an old woman, and turned around/ Moving her arms, she started up again. "He's just so…so-OOF!" She hit into something, and fell backwards to hit the ground. "Ouch…" She looked in front of her and saw a pair of boots, "Uhhnnnh?"

"What's this?" a voice asked, a hand reaching out of the darkness, and grabbing her collar. She gulped, and her feet left the ground. She met a face that seemed at least one year older then her, with eyes of ice and misery. Eyes only someone who was completely heartless could possess. "What's a water peasant doing out in my forest? Eh?" He leaned in and said it all right in front her face as if he thought he needed to make himself heard better. He blew in her face loudly, making her flinch in disgust. "Ugh!" The boy smiled "You need to learn some matters kid" he said in a rough voice that sounded purposely made to sound hard core. Or whatever it was he was trying to sound like. She didn't even know the guy and she already didn't like him. Her eyes widened to the knife he pulled up under her nose. Now she definitely didn't like him. "Maybe if I cut off all that pretty hair of yours you'd grow some, eh?" He put the knife to her neck "Or give you a lesson you won't forget…" Shutting her eyes, the boy suddenly dropped her, and he started wobbling. He fell beside her unconscious. Katara stared at the unconscious boy, and saw Zuko standing behind him, a hand out in front of him. He must have hit a pressure point. "Consider yourself lucky." He said to Katara coolly. She put her hand to her throat, glad it was still there, and she got up. "Here." She said just as coolly, shoving his water at him. She turned and started to walk back to the camp. Sitting down under the tree she was under before, she leaned against it and closed her eyes. She didn't hear Zuko come back to camp, but she didn't care…That boy's eyes…They made her shudder. There was no mercy in them at all. How could someone be so cold? If Zuko hadn't…That's right, how had Zuko been there? Had he followed her? She should have been afraid when she saw him but she knew he wouldn't hurt her…Her eyes dulled. She was his one way ticket to the Avatar…to Aang…To his honor. Of course he had been following her.


	5. The Big Escape

The Big Escape

_Author's Note: By the way, I advise, if you're reading this story, to only read the chapters with real titles, not the chapter 1, 2, etc titles. The ones like Confusion and The Big Escape are all revised, and improved. If you read ahead, I warn you: BAD WRITING AHEAD._

**The Big Escape**

Zuko woke up, glaring at a bird that was singing its heart out in the trees surrounding him. He had a huge head ache that just wouldn't go away, and the bird certainly wasn't helping. He eyed Katara as she slept, and sighed. "This plan isn't going very well…" He whispered to himself. He got up, and walked to the trail seeing a…"Fruit tree?" He eyed the tree and the strange red circular fruit growing on it. He didn't remember seeing it before. He walked over to it and took one of the fruit, putting a finger across it and examining it to make sure it was safe. Satisfied, he started to pluck them, and stuffing them in his pockets. 'I'm sure the water peasant will be hungry also' he thought.

At the exact moment in camp, Katara yelled in frustration. She was hungry, aching, and bruised. "I'm so hungry! This is all Zuko's fault! There's no point in keeping me, Aang's not he-"Someone put a hand over her mouth as she yelled, and she jumped and hit her head on a branch. The figure's hand had a blue arrow marking on it, "Amguf?" Aang? Aang smiled, letting her go. "Ssh. We have to get out of here before Zuko gets back Katara…" He said in a raspy whisper while looking around. "Follow me" Katara slowly got back up, and she followed Aang behind a tree. Aang took out the bison whistle, "You still have that thing?" Katara said in surprise, totally ruining the feel of the moment. "Yes, now I said be quiet!" he hissed, shooting her a childish glare. He blew it, but no sound came out. "Oh yeah, great. NOW we're saved!" Katara flung her hands in the air and dropped them. Aang sighed, he put his right hand behind his head, and rubbed his neck. An awkward silence crossed between the two slowly.  
"well…it was worth a-"Appa landed two inches from Aang's face, cutting off his sentence. "AH!" Katara quickly put her hand over the 12 year olds mouth. "Hurry up! I think Zuko's coming!" Aang coughed "Right! Let's go! Katara?" Katara was already in the saddle "HURRY AANG! IT'S ZUKO!" she yelled, holding out her hand and waving for him to go faster. Zuko was in fact running back into the clearing at that moment.

"AVATAR!"

They stared at each other, "AAH!" Aang jumped into the air, blue wind propelling him, and landed on Appa's head, gripping the reigns. "YIP, YIP!" "NO!" Zuko jumped, and caught a tuff of Appa's fur. "Whew, we won't be seeing HIM again!" Aang reassured Katara as they were in the air. Katara smiled…She just noticed something was missing at that precise moment. "Where's Sokka?" Aang looked back…"Well…I haven't exactly…found him yet" "What!" Katara jumped to her feet "What are we going to do? My brother's out there some where, all alone" She gasped "What if we don't find him!" She wailed in fear. "Uh, Katara, I think your worrying WAY to much, Sokka's probably…probably having the time of his life! I mean, come on, there's nuts every where around this island, and you know how much he likes those!" Aang turned his back to her again, "Katara, I'm sure he's fine, right?" No answer "Right Katara?" Aang turned around, "K-"He stopped; Zuko had a knife to her throat. "Don't move and the girl will live" Zuko said slowly in a menacing voice, his eye's filled with determination. Aang tried to think of something, but he knew what was going to happen anyway, and he put his head down slowly. Zuko smiled. Katara looked at the ground with a grave expression.

"So, why is the Fire Nation here?" Sokka asked his new 'friend'. Jesse sighed, not exactly wanting to converse with an idiot. "Did you know that bending isn't supposed to work on this island?" She asked, not looking at Sokka. "Say what!? Is that even possible?" he said questioningly. Jesse sighed again. "Long ago, Avatar Roku came to our island. At that time it was nothing but chaos. The fire benders wanted this, and the earth benders wanted that. Roku made a solution, of course…He gave our village leader a rock, and hide three other rocks, all glowing different colors. Colors of each of the Nations: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. He hid them all on different parts of the island, and as long as those rocks were in their correct place, the island would stay in peace. But then he vanished, and the rocks stopped working, until just a little while ago. Someone in our village was trying to use her bending to clear a pathway, but as hard as she tried, it wouldn't work. It was at that moment that we knew the Avatar had been reborn (In Aang's case, he wasn't reborn, but just woke from hibernation). Zhao came here to find the Avatar, but he found the rock of fire instead, so now only he can bend fire on our island. he thinks he can make us treat him like a god. He's been here for at least three months now, and he won't share the rocks glory with his crew mates either, and when he heard that there was an earth bender village, he caught a boy passing by. When the boy wouldn't tell him where the village was, he killed him." Sokka looked at her, with difficulty "That boy was your brother wasn't he? That cross was his grave." Jesse looked down with a sullen expression. She wouldn't answer. She spotted his canteen, "Can you open that canteen? The one tied around your waist?" Sokka raised an eyebrow, "I can try, but I don't think you'll get anything from it, there's only a small amount in there, plus your wrists are tied, so you can't exactly reach your mouth." Jesse said "Just try!" "Fine, fine." He reached over to his canteen, and popped the lid open, Jesse put her hand under the opening, and the water suddenly formed a ball in her hand "YOU'RE AN-"Sokka yelled out "SSH!" Jesse warned "Your going to get us killed!" she whispered, she glared at him for a second, and the water shot up, cutting her rope. Sokka gapped as she tore a few loose ropes off of her, and stood up. "Hey! What about me?" Sokka whined. Jesse sighed "Fine, but you'll just get in the way, I was-""Just get me out of here!" Jesse glared at him, "Okay, if you say so" She raised her hand, and the water cut his ropes "Ha, you know, if it had been ME-"The rest of the water splashed all over him. "AH!" He stood up, glaring at her. "Oops, did I do that?" She put a hand over her mouth, and said "Come on Sokka, we have to get past those guards. Now how are we going to do that?" Sokka smiled "I've got an idea" he said. Jesse turned, and saw a strange look on his face, "…What?"

Sokka pushed her out of the tent, "Hey, over here!" He yelled, and ran back inside the tent "AAH!" Jesse yelled as the guards snapped around "QUIK! THE KID'S ESCAPING!" one of the guards said, pointing at her with his forefinger. Jesse paused, "Well, no duh!" Sokka was right on the other side; He made some odd gurgling noise when she said that, and she tried to ignore his…gurgling. "Okay missy! Stop the smart act, and get back to the tent!" a guard said, panting from running all the way over. Jesse smirked "Why don't you MAKE me? Besides, if I just go back by myself, I can get back out later. The ropes were annoying me." She threw a piece of the ropes at the mustached one. "Hey! You got out of your ropes!" he yelled stupidly, and everyone looked at him in disbelief. The other guard rolled his eyes, "Fine, if you want to play like that! We're taking you to Zhao!" Jesse whispered something, and Sokka nodded, one of the guards grabbed her hand, the other said "What about the other kid?" Sokka kicked up, his foot hit the mustache guy in the face, and the man fell down unconscious. Jesse grabbed the mans arm and twisted it, he let go of her with a yelp, "Get the rest of the rope, I've got an idea for this guy"

"Hey Phil, how is the baby sitting going?" Three Fire Nation men joked as they walked by the guards at their post outside the prisoner's tent. They laughed at what one of them said. But 'Phil' was really Sokka in a fake mustache and Phil's uniform. "It's uh, going great!" The three eyed Jesse, who for some reason was loafing around next to Phil in a very un-prisoner-like manner. "HEY!" the yelled, staring at her, and trying to think of something to say to this….Weird image. "Don't worry! I'm not letting her out of my sight! She needs to be uh…taught a lesson!" He grabbed Jesse's arm, and tightened his grip. "Ouch!" She yelped, glaring over at him with a frightening face. "Take it easy, you're not really a guard!" She whispered to him. He bent down "They don't know that" He whispered back. Jesse groaned, and rolled her eyes. "Oh, no. Please don't take me to-" she started saying in a very monotonous voice. Sokka conveniately interrupted her with a- "Yes! That is right! The Big Man!" "No. Please. Help me." Sokka smirked, really getting into his role. "That's right, Mr. _Zhao_!" Jesse put on a miserable face as 'Phil' started to walk, swinging his arms and legs, giving a booming laughter. She didn't move, so he ended up dragging her. "What's the deal?" He whispered, trying to drag her, "That sword…" she said in a distant voice. She was staring at a long sword with a golden hilt in the weaponry tent. Sokka frowned. "So?" "So go over to that tent!" She whispered. "Sokka sighed. He went over with her, "Well hurry up, I think their starting to notice that I'm not fat and that my mustache isn't really a mustache" Jesse picked up the sword…"Tom…" Tears were in her eyes. "This was Tom's sword" she said. Sokka stopped complaining when she spoke. "I've just realized, how could YOU use water bending?" he said, remembering her stunt in the tent again. Jesse put the sword away…"Well…" She stalled. Sokka gasped, and pointed at her accusingly "You have the other rock!" Jesse put a finger to her lips "Ssh! Yeah, maybe I do, but I took it for a very good reason!" "Oh really, and what is that!" Sokka asked. "I'll tell you once I make one up. C'mon, lets get out of here."


	6. The Moon Spirit

The Moon Spirit's treasure

_Author's Note: Okay, some people keep asking me why Aang could use his airbending skills on the island and they won't leave me alone about it. Uhm….I don't really wanna ruin the story for you, so all I can say is I assure you that wasn't a story screw up. Sorry, but that's all I'm gonna say._

**The Moon Spirit's Treasure**

Aang let the reigns go, his hands dropping to his sides. "What do you want Zuko?" he said coldly, his voice shaking. Zuko's eyes widened at such an OBVIOUS question. "My honor." He said in a voice fill of regret and pain, maybe even a little triumph. He said it as if he had been aching to say it for ages to the boy in front of him. "Turn this…_thing_ around. Go to the Fire Nation. Or I'll slit her throat." He said just in case the Avatar tried to fight back. Suddenly Katara thrust her head backwards, hitting the back of her head into Zuko's face. He had been so absorbed into getting Aang to turn around he forgot almost all about the fact that Katara was there. She could defend herself. She wasn't some brainless…fire bender or anything! Zuko yelled, and Katara jumped up, ran over to Aang, and Aang whipped his hands threw the air, and swung them down as Zuko got up, 'There it is! The look in his eyes again!' Zuko thought in annoyance. Suddenly a bar of air slammed into his stomach, and he flew into the air. The Avatar jumped up, and grabbed his hand as he started to fall, and threw him back into the saddle next to Katara who had some rope. She tied him up while he was still confused, and she leaned back to admire her handy work. Aang landed softly back to the saddle, "We've been thinking. We can't just leave you _here_. The least we can do is drop you off at the nearest earthbending village. They'll take great care of you!" Aang said with a hearty smile. "Like I said, it's the least we can do."

Sokka looked around anxiously "What's taking you so long?" "SSH!" Jesse growled, looking around the corner of a large tent they were hiding behind. "Alright, the forest entrance is clear, come on!" she said, waving her hand for him to go first.

Sokka growled, folding his arms and looking at her with a smart-aleck expression. "I could have told you that much."

Grabbing him by the ear, she started running towards the pathway ahead. "OW-OW-OW-OW-OW!" he wheezed. "Shut UP! You're ruining our cover!" She snapped. She let go once she reached the trail. "Geez! I don't know what your problem is!" Sokka said. Jesse glared at him as if to say, 'It's you.'

"It's not my fault all you do all day is complain and whine!" She put her hands on her hips. "WHY YOU LITTLE-!" He stopped, and froze, "Did you hear that?" He asked. Jesse looked at him, "Hear what?" "SSH! Listen, listen!" Sokka straightened up, and slowly turned his head towards a small animal trail, "A voice…over there!" Sokka pointed to the small trail, and started running off "Hey! Wait up!" Jesse ran after him. Sokka ran, and stopped at a big pond, and he thought for a second that Yue, the princess from the northern tribe, was standing on the surface, but when he blinked, she was gone. Sokka ran to the edge, and looked down, but the only thing there was his reflection. The pond really looked just like the one back then…. Jesse stopped next to him, gasping. "Do you randomly run off ALL the time?" she asked with a touch of bitterness. "Because if you do, I won't be staying here very long-I'll find my own way home!"

"Never mind, I just thought…I must have been hearing things. Let's go…" Sokka looked up, and stopped, "Sokka? What exactly did you hear? Because I don't want to sound crazy or anything, but uh, someone's saying something…" she said slowly, hearing a small voice from somewhere herself. Sokka snapped around. Desperation was in his face, and he almost looked like he was crying.

"YUE!" he screamed, his eyes actually watering.

Jesse jumped, eyes wide. "Who's yuu-ay?"

Sokka rolled his eyes in a dark manner. "She was…a friend" He looked away "She gave her life to save the moon spirit, and became apart of the spirit itself. She died…" He said with a pang of misery. Jesse raised her eyebrows in surprise, and then looked up at the sky, by instinct as the sun light shuddered on her face. Suddenly the sky turned dark, as if the sun had been snuffed out. The moon came into view threw the trees, and Jesse stared, her jaw dropping. Seeing something in the moon, her eyes dulled. "She's very beautiful" she said quietly, and Sokka shook his head "What?" he asked, looking at her. Scoffing, he turned away. "How would you know." He said flatly. Jesse pointed to the moon, and Sokka looked over, confused. Following her gesture, he gasped, "Yue…Wait, why can I see her?" He stopped. "The moon spirit is in trouble." Jesse said in a calm voice. Sokka turned around "Jesse?" She didn't reply, but instead faced him. "The moon spirit is in danger. That's what she told me, anyway." Sokka blinked…"Is it Zhao?" he asked.

Katara froze as the sun disappeared, and another second later, she made a loud noise of surprise. "Aang, it's Yue! She's on the moon!" she said loudly, pointing. Aang and Zuko looked up quickly, too caught up in the moment to remember they had just been in a heated argument. Aang sighed "What do you think she wants?" Katara said, still looking up at the moon. "Well, maybe she just wants to say hello?" Aang looked at her. They went silent. Katara and Zuko sighed, shaking their heads. "What? It was just a guess!" he said, flushing with embarrassment. "_Any_way, let's try to think of what could **really** be the reasons why she's here. That was a good try though Aang." Katara said. After silence, she suddenly said, "Aang! That's it!" Katara hit her forehead as in shocked that she hadn't thought of it before. "Maybe you could go to the spirit world and-!"

"No, the moon spirit's here…so maybe, maybe I should go to the moon spirit in the North Pole!" Aang yelled. "Yeah!" Katara said.


	7. Ash and Shadow

Ash and Shadow

_Author's Note: Okay. Wow. This chapter SUCKED. Why did anyone read my stuff, lol? It's getting really painful to read this. I'm glad I'm fixing everything._

**Ash and Shadow**

"Please. Zhao is on the island, Sokka. How can _he_ be the culprit?" Jesse said, looking over at her companion in crime.

Sokka shifted back and forth, and looked around at any place but Jesse's face. "It was just a question…Besides, you never know, y'know?"

"No, I don't actually." She muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Just shut up and let me talk to her." She retorted, sticking her nose in the air and looking back up at the moon. Sokka really was an idiot. He always asked the dumbest things…..The sweetest things. He always looked so dumb. Exhaling, she started to relax, almost falling forward as a sweet melody entered her mind. He always looked so….Amazing. Turning around, the melody blocked out everything around her as she looked over at the tan boy with the pouting face.

Sokka yelled as he was tackled in the back. Wind hit his face as he fell forwards. "WAAH!"

He hit the forest floor and frowned. Jesse had her arms wrapped around him, and to be truthful, it was sort of creeping him out. "Jesse? Can you get off of me?" He asked awkwardly. He never thought he'd have to ask her _that_ before. The girl hated him for Pete's sake. He turned around, and his creeped out face turned to one of….Well….Of someone who was disturbed. Jesse's eyes were glittering in an odd way, and she was wearing this weird smile. "I'm not who you think I am Sokka." She said in a happy, cutsie voice that definitely didn't seem like how she'd usually talk to someone. Sokka raised an eyebrow, and gulped. "Okay, now you're REALLY starting to creep me out" He got up, and pushed her off of him, trying not to touch her too much as he did so. Jesse frowned, looking a little hurt. "its Yue, Sokka. It's me…" She said with a sigh, looking away. Sokka stopped, and swung his head back to look at her again. "But that's impossible! Yue's right….There." He looked up towards the moon, but the spirit wasn't there anymore. "This was the only way to tell you, Sokka!" She was right in front of him now. "But, what happened to Jesse!?" "She's fine, Sokka." Yue said with impatience. "Someone's coming that is very dangerous. They're coming to capture you. I wanted to tell you sooner, but whenever I tried, you never noticed me!"

Sokka frowned "Why me? I'm just a stupid teenager traveling with the Avatar on a quest to beat up the Fire Nation Lord." He said all in one breath in a way that made him sound totally innocent. Yue (In Jesse's body) looked away.

"It's not your fault, it's mine"

Sokka put a hand on her shoulder, "What do you mean?" "You're the Moon Spirit's Treasure…" Her voice sounded so weak and frail. Sokka opened his mouth. "Whazzat?" He said dumbly. "It's….It's something every major spirit has. It's a way to rule over them. The person that I'm trying to warn you about…I think he's trying to use you against me." "I…" He shut his mouth, not really knowing what to say, let alone what was going on. He couldn't really carry on even if he wanted to because Yue suddenly started crying. His eyes softened, and he leaned forward, putting a hand on her cheek. "I won't let anything happen to you." He said quietly. Yue looked up at him, and suddenly leaned up, kissing him. Sokka looked dumb struck. Then made some sort of gurgling noise, and fell down. "Sokka!" Yue yelped with embarrassment and worry, walking over to where he fell over. He jumped up again, and made a giddy laugh. "I'm okay!"

Yue exhaled in relief. He was sort of weird at times…"I can't stay here long. If I do, Jesse's spirit might get damaged…" Sokka looked down, as red as a beet, "Oh, right." He said, regrettably remembering that Jesse was behind this new Yue in front of him. Yue smiled. "Sokka, whatever you do, don't go into the shadows alone. You must come back to the North Pole until its safe." Sokka smiled meekly while shrugging him shoulders. "How? I mean, I don't have a map, Aang and Katara are missing, and oh yeah, I'm in the middle of a Fire Nation campsite!" Yue's smile widened. She looked up, and Sokka groaned. "Women. All they do is smile, and they never tell you want's going on."

Yue quickly grabbing his arm, "I'm not ignoring you Sokka. _Look up_!" She said threw a fit of giggles. Appa was right above them over the tree tops. "Oh, I knew Appa was there all along. I was just trying to uh, um…Y'know. Deepening the drama of the moment"

"Good bye Sokka, and please stay safe." She said, and Sokka waved as he watched her spirit return to the moon. "Bye…" He said slowly, smitten. "Sokka, why are you red?" Sokka jumped as the rough voice of Jesse returned.

"GAH!" He yelped at Jesse. "It's a girl, RUN!" She joked sarcastically, but she seemed a bit ticked off. She raised an eye brow, and looked to her side, "Why do I feel all giddy?" She muttered. "I wonder if the Moon spirit liked you…hey, So-!" She started, when Sokka yelled in embarrassment to keep her quiet-"AANG! KATARAAA! DOWN HERE GUYS!" He waved his arms in the air until Aang poked his head into view, and he smiled widely "Sokka! Finally found you! Down boy!" Aang patted Appa. Sokka forgot to stop yelling and Appa jumped a little at his screams of panic, and flew down to Sokka and Jesse, umcomfort plain as view on his hair-covered face. "Sorry Appa…heh! Hey Sokka! Come on!" Aang said down to his friend. Sokka smiled, and took a step when Katara had poked her head out and spotted Jesse; she gasped "Who's that Sokka?" She asked in a sly voice, looking at Sokka with a giant, devilish smirk. She was gonna hold this on him for the rest of his natural-born life. And she didn't even know what 'this' was. Jesse grumbled and looked at the ground. She felt like a wild animal being screamed at. Sokka glanced back carelessly, "Oh, that's Jesse; She's a girl from a village nearby." He said flatly, as if she was just a passerby. Glowering, Jesse folded her arms. Aang smiled "We can drop you off at your village if you want Jesse! I'm Aang! That's Katara, and this here is Momo!" He said to a lemur wrapped around his head. "Oh, sorry Appa, This is Appa!" He said to the bison…Jesse stared at all th fast introductions. "Hey Appa, Aang, Momo, and Katara" She said all at once, making Aang smile. "I like her!" He said in his childish way. Katara jumped off Appa and asked "Just tell us where you live and we'll be off!" Jesse smiled, and then they were off. In the air and over the trees. "So, this is the village huh?" Aang asked as the four stood in the clearing with Tom's grave. Katara rolled her eyes. Jesse only chuckled, her eyes fixated on the grave as if it was the only thing around for miles. "No, it's up that trail. Thanks by the way. How can I repay you?" Sokka jumped in. He'd probably been waiting for her to ask that.

"Well-!"

"Yes, I can give you supplies" She said dully.

"Well what about-!"

"Yes, I can get you some food, anything else?" She asked, having the weird and awkward feeling that she was a waiter in a pub, or a tavern or something.

"Uhm…nah" He said, giving a small cough and going back behind Katara and Aang. Aang beamed, oblivious to the weird conversation. "Let's go! I want to see your village!" He walked toward the trail, and Jesse ran up next to him, as did Katara, while Sokka dazed, noticed they were leaving him, and complained all the way until he caught up with them.

Jesse froze as they came to the end of the trail. The complaining and laughter of the group slowly died out as everyone else turned around to look at the village. A wild wind blew her hair behind her, mocking her very existence…and ash fell like snow around her as she stood in shock. Her eyes grew wide in horror, red reflecting in the sapphire of her eyes.


	8. Fire in the Forest!

Fire in the Forest

**Fire in the Forest!**

Sokka bumped into her, "OOF! Hey!" he said, glowering at her. He stopped as ash fell onto his face. Puzzled, he turned to look to where it had come from…then started shaking, afraid of what he knew he would see as he slowing moved next to Jesse. His eyed opened wide as he confirmed his suspicion. All the houses, every single one of them, were on fire. Some were already burned to the ground. Jesse slowly walked forward, and then started running. Entering a house, she disappeared. Coming out, she entered another. And another. And another. With each house she ran into, her face became more frightening. Covered in soot, she picked something up. She turned around to face Aang, Sokka, and Katara. (Zuko had been left with Appa). She looked at Aang, walking toward him, "You're the Avatar aren't you?" She said in a dead sort of way, scrubbing soot from the thing in her hands. "Yeah…" Aang answered quietly with a sad note, looking down at what was in her grip. He already knew what she was going to start saying. Jesse held out a little rag doll, her knuckles white. "Then you can help them, can't you? Can't you? Help me avenge them!" Tears started spilling down her face, sliding down her cheeks, and hitting the ground. Aang looked away from her and the doll in her hand. He could almost see a little girl holding it in small little fingers, crying as her house burning to the ground. He didn't answer. Giving a sob, she yelled, her voice shaking with anger. "You must've seen Zhao before; he's the one who did this! I know he did! Kill him! KILL HIM!" she screamed, curling her hands in fists. Aang closed his eyes, turning sideways away from her.. Katara stepped forward. "Don't yell at Aang! It's not HIS fault!" She defended, holding her hands up in front of Aang and her. Jesse stopped, and looked at her in a rage. "I'm going." She finally said. Sokka looked up. "What!?" He yelped. "If you guys won't help me…Then I'll do it myself. I can't let him get away with this." she looked at Aang and Katara for a minute, and she sighed. "Sorry…" she muttered. Turning, she walked into the burning mess, and she was engulfed by the flames.

"JESSE!" Sokka yelled out in bewilderment. He looked over at Aang and asked "Why can't we help her, Aang? Zhao cost all of us pain! Why can't we teach him a lesson!? We all know he deserves it!"

Aang turned back towards the trail leading to Appa. "Let's go guys…I want to get out of here." He said slowly, starting to drag his feet. "NO!" Aang turned around in surprise, his eyes wide. Sokka was glaring at him in anger and confusion at his friends choice of action. "Jesse's my friend! Go ahead and be cowards, but _I'm_ staying here!" And with that, he ran off after Jesse. Katara yelled, seeing him disappear in the fire as well.

"SOKKA WAIT!" She looked back at Aang. All he did was stare at the ground, emotion void from his face. "Aang, why aren't you saying anything?" she asked in a shaking voice, panic leaking through her words.

"Jesse! JESSE!!" Sokka yelled out, breathing heavily. He saw a glow in some tree's nearby. He ran that way. It was Zhao and about four guards sitting by a fire, getting a bit drunk. they were laughing themselves silly too. Sokka stopped, seeing Jesse a few feet away from the camp site. He looked closer, and he rasped. Leaning against a tree, she had a knife out, and was looking like she was just about ready to jump out and attack every single fire bender there. Sokka's eyes seemed to pop out of his head. "Jesse!" He whispered loudly. She looked at his threw the corner of her eyes, and Sokka motioned for her to get back where he was. She looked at him for a while, her soot covered face showing no sign of communication, 'What is she DOING?' Sokka thought, hoping what he thought she was doing was wrong. She finally shook her head slowly. 'NO!' Sokka yelled in his head. He started to come over, but stick cracked under his feet. Sokka looked up, frozen, and Jesse was wide eyed. "What was that?" A guard said, slurring his words and giving a small growl. "Dunno, go check it out!" Zhao ordered in annoyance. He sounded like the only thing he wanted to do at the moment was drink.

Aang looked up at Katara…"I'm just one kid Katara…I'm just one kid…" He said, looked down in shame. Katara sighed, and hugged him like a big sister, "Oh Aang, I'm sorry…" she muttered. "I know you're just a kid but…They need help. If we all work together, maybe we can all figure out something." Suddenly Zuko came out behind Aang, a look of disgust on his face. "What a touching scene." He growled. Aang snapped around "How did he untie those ropes?" Aang asked, blinking. "I dunno…Maybe he learned a secret trick." Katara muttered, unfazed by his appearance. Zuko smirked "That's not important right now Avatar, what really is important is that you come with me!" he said, trying to ignore the fact that they didn't really care HOW he had gotten out of the ropes.


	9. Death and a Little Romance

Death and a Little Romance

**Death and a Little Romance!**

A guard looking to be in his 30's came out, and stopped, staring at Sokka. It must have been weird for him to just walk right out and spot a perpetrator as easily as he did. Blinking, they both looked at each other, dumbfounded. Suddenly the guard made a squeaking noise and hit the floor. Jesse sighed, standing over him with a branch over her shoulder. "Look, I don't want you getting in the way, okay? Go back to your friends…I don't need you!" She whispered harshly. Bending forward, she stuck her bottom lip out, daring him to refuse her order. Sokka growled; his pride hurt. "I do not get in the way!" He said loudly, flinging his arms in the air, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Sokka turned around, and Zhao smirked. Jesse slapped her hand to her face, scowling at Sokka. "You don't get in the WAY, huh?" she glared. Looking back at Zhao, she snarled, remembering why she was here. "AAH!" She took up her knife, and tried to stab him. Zhao merely dodged out of the way, and grabbed her arms, slamming her against the tree. She bit her lip, trying not to scream. Zhao picked up her own knife, turning it in his hands. "Funny how your own weapon goes against you, isn't it?" he said with a smirk.

"ZUKO! Stay away from Aang!" Katara said while pushing Aang behind her, and opening her canteen. Aang stared at Katara "I can take him Katara!" He piped up, Katara obviously wanted to get Zuko back for keeping her prisoner for so long though, for she ignored him. Aang sighed, and backed up a bit, knowing that Katara might get reckless. Zuko smiled, and took up a stance; "You'll run out of water eventually" Was all he said. Katara knew he was right, but she ignored his warning, and shot a whip of water at him. He punched, and fire flared out, dissolving the water. Katara growled, and used other techniques, while yelling to Aang, "Run! I'll buy us some time!" Aang said "But-!" as Katara dodged a blast of fire. "GO, AANG!"

Aang bit his bottom lip, looked for a second, and ran off towards the fire, and was engulfed. Zuko growled, "Big mistake!" His eyes seemed to be on fire. Katara gulped.

Aang saw a glow of light threw some trees up ahead, he started towards the cover. He heard a voice, it was saying "Funny, how your own weapon goes against you, isn't it?" He stopped. It sounded familiar. Remembering hearing it many times before, he groaned. It was Zhao's voice. Hiding behind a tree, he peeked behind it as Zhao put the knife to Jesse's throat. Jesse stayed put…She had a plan. Sokka glared at Zhao; it was like he wasn't good enough to be sliced open with a knife or something, the way the big bad man was ignoring him! He grabbing his boomerang (That boomerang/knife thing) and snuck behind Zhao, but Zhao snapped around, "YOU!" Jesse took the opportune moment, lifted her leg, and kicked him in the gut. Something cracked with a loud, booming noise, and fire flared from under his shirt. He hit the floor, and Jesse kicked him in the face. She was about to kick him again when Sokka grabbed her hand and turned, racing away from the fallen admiral. Jesse was yanked, and practically dragged, after him. "We can take him Sokka!" she said in a childish manner.

"No, you can't! He almost killed us! Hey Aang….AANG!" Sokka stopped as Aang jumped out and started running with them. "Katara's holding off Zuko with her bending so we can get away!"

Jesse stopped, "But I have the rock, not HER!"

Sokka stopped, "That's right!"

Aang stopped, "And Zuko might be hurting her, his fire bending is-!"

"But Zhao has the fire rock!" Sokka and Jesse yelled in frustration.

"Maybe when the Rocks are close to other benders…it works for them too?" Jesse suggested. "Whatever, let's GO already!" Aang yelled, "Right!" The two said, and started off to help Katara.

Zuko shoved Katara up against the wall, "You loose." he said in triumph. Suddenly Zuko yelled as Jesse pulled his hair down, , while kicking the back of his knee at the same time to make him bend over. "I don't think I've ever met a man with more hair then me before." She said, looking at his pony tail, mild surprise on her face. Zuko stared at the new girl who had a hold on his hair. He suddenly smiled, and Jesse cocked her head to one side. 'I have a bad idea about this guy…' she thought.

Zuko flipped his legs over and up, and kicked Jesse in the stomach. The wind knocked from her lungs, she flew into Sokka, and they both hit a tree. Aang was stuck in a bloody vine when he'd tried to jump into the fight and tangled himself up instead, and Katara was sneaking up on Zuko from behind. Zuko turned around, "HA!" Katara punched him in the face. Twirling around in a complete circle, Zuko fell on Sokka, who just happened to be on top of Jesse. "AWW!" Jesse yelled again, the rest of her air crushed by the extra weight. Katara smiled, and Sokka punched Zuko in the face when Zuko tried to turn away and he blacked out. "Get-off-of-ME!" Jesse gasped. Sokka jumped up, pulling Zuko off too. Jesse took in a deep, long breath, holding her sides while wincing. "I'll go get Aang…" She said in a horse voice, and walked off with a hobble and a limp leg. "We'll tie up Zuko with the rope I stole from him and bring Appa over!" Sokka yelled back. Jesse just waved to signal that she heard and really didn't care what he did, and disappeared into the trees. She hated men.

"Land ho!" Aang yelled with a wide smile. It had been two days since the destruction of Jesse's village, and she had decided to tag along considering there was no where else for her to go. Well, actually Sokka decided for her, but either way worked. Zuko was sitting tied up in a corner at that moment, glaring up at the sky. Aang walked over, "We'll drop you off here, don't worry Zuko, I'm sure earthbenders don't hate the fire nation THAT bad!" for the city they were entering was an Earth Nation city. Appa landed right outside the city and everyone got off, and got to the gate. The gate opened, and suddenly tons of girls came out, saying "Welcome, enjoy the festival!" And in an explosion of cherry pedals, they put necklaces of amazingly bright flowers around everyone's necks, even the tied up Zuko's. They were pulled inside by the collars of their shirts with yells of surprise, and the gate door slammed shut, behind them. In all the commotion, Zuko bit Sokka's hand and was gone in the crowd. Sokka told Aang, and Aang was about to tell Katara who probably would've gone to tell Jesse, when they noticed her eyes locked on a gorgeous outfit. It was a dark blue dress that went just below the knees, and sparkled like sapphires. Like her eyes. "No, Katara, we're not-!" Sokka began, putting a fist down, when Aang piped up "I'll get it for you Katara!"

Katara whirled around and hugged Aang. "K-Katara! I can't breath!"

"Oh! Sorry…" She let go, and after buying it, she went to try it on. Sokka glared at Aang, sniffing…"I can't believe you like that thing." He taunted. Aang snapped around to glare at him, and little beams of hatred shot between them, making them forget that Zuko had run off. When Katara came out, the two boys were speechless. Katara frowned, "Do I look that bad?" she asked, about to step back into the restroom and change with embarrassment. Aang flushed. "No, that's not it! It's-!" "You look great, right Aang?" Sokka interrupted. "Yeah…beautiful…" Aang said in a far off voice. Katara smiled "Thanks! How about we get our stuff now?" Sokka frowned, "That's just it…that dress was really expensive…" "OH! I'm so sorry! We won't get it then!" Katara said guiltily. Aang shot Sokka another glare. "Nah, Sokka can get a job! Can't you Sokka?" Sokka looked at Aang in shock. "Oh you traitor." He whispered. Aang held up a hand, air flying into the air. Turning back to Katara, he nodded with a glare. The threat didn't seem to have worked. "You will, right?" Katara asked him suddenly. "Yeah, sure I- Wait a minute!"

Aang said quickly, "Look, there's a sign over there, go get a job Sokka!" And he pushed Sokka into the moving crowd. Katara smiled, "Sokka's nice for once!" she said, watching the poor, tricked teen saunter off. Aang smiled "Yeah I know. Weird one, huh? Let's go see if we can find a place to sleep with the rest of our money!" "But I thought we did have any mo-!" she started, but Aang was already dragged her off.

The next morning Sokka ran in, "I got a job!" Katara jumped up and cheered, but all Aang just said was "That's nice…" in a dreamy sort of way, looking at Katara. Sokka glared at him, and sighed. At least Katara cared. "How much does it pay?" Katara asked. Sokka paused, thinking for a minute…"At least 5 silver pieces a day I think."

Katara stared. "That's good! We're leave soon then?" Sokka sighed "Yes, we can leave soon, here, knock yourself out!" He threw Aang five silver pieces, "I'll see you around this evening!" He walked out of the rented room, and Aang hopped up, "Come on Katara, let's go enjoy the festival!" Katara nodded, and said "Okay!" while Sokka dragged his butt off back to work.

Zuko hid his face behind a mask; many people wore masks at this festival, so it was a perfect disguise. He also wore different clothes, just in case the Avatar came around. Zuko would be able to catch the kid off guard.

Katara smiled, and Aang said after they finished watching a street show-"Katara, I'm hungry; I'm going to get some food."

"Okay, I'm going to go look around a little!"

She turned and saw a jewelry store, and with interest walked over. She bent down the glass to look at all the stuff, and Zuko froze, only a few feet away. 'What's with the new dress?' he thought, but deep down, he was thinking something totally different. Katara sighed, and looked at the single silver piece she had, and looked at the price tag of a bracelet shaped like a crescent moon. She straightened up, and turned, Bumping into Zuko, "Oh, sorry…" She looked up, "WAH!" She yelled at the mask, and sighed seeing it really WAS, only a mask. Zuko glared. For a second there he'd seriously thought she had seen through his disguise. "What?" He snapped, narrowing his eyes behind the mask. The girl was so dumb, always looking at jewelry and dresses. He didn't want to run into HER. He needed to get the Avatar. "Oh…uh…nothing. The mask…Tt's just, I thought…never mind" she wavered, starting to get the vibe that this guy was extremely rude. Zuko was satisfied that she couldn't tell who he was, and was about to walk off when he saw the Avatar in the crowd behind them. "Want to take a walk?" He asked, hoping to distract her, and take her away from the Avatar. Katara looked back to where Aang was supposed to be when he quickly grabbed her arm so she wouldn't see him and make a scene. Softening his grip he tried to stop getting aggravated. "Let's go to the moon pond" He said in a low voice, starting to drag her off. Katara said "But, my friend-!" "Can wait a while" Was all he said. Walking a ways, he saw the pond. Sitting on the edge of the ponds railing, he finally let go of her hand. Katara sighed, looking around. "So, what's your name?" he asked, trying to start up a conversation so she didn't get uncomfortable and want to leave. That'd ruin his plan. "Katara…" she said slowly. "You?"

"I'm…Masu. Masu Rokinu" 'Masu' said. Katara smiled; then Aang came up with two ice creams. "Hey Katara!" he said with a wide grin. Zuko stared. The Avatar had found her faster then he thought he would. When Aang noticed the stranger, he glared, and Zuko glared back, "Who's this?" Aang asked, some jealously showing in his voice. Zuko grinned to himself inside his mask. This was somehow entertaining for him. He stood up, giving a little bow. "My name is Masu Rokinu…and…you are?" Aang, still glowering, said "Aang, just Aang" as if having just a first name was better than having a full one. Katara looked back and forth from one boy to the other. Katara held up a finger, "Let's go for a walk!" she pointed to a trial, not noticing the sign next to it. The two boys crossed their arms, and Aang looked away from the masked 'Masu', while Zuko just smirked under his mask. "Fine!" They both said on either side of Katara, and they started walking towards the sign. Aang was the one who noticed the sign first and he opened his eyes in awe. Masu saw it next, and made a strangled sound, purely from sickness. "The Path to the Cave of Love" Was all it said. Both boys goggled as Katara kept walking, and they both thought that maybe…just maybe…she hadn't seen the sign.


	10. Death and a Little Romance Part Two

Death and a Little Romance

_Author's Note: I'm almost done fixing everything! Then I can start writing new stuff…Yaay me…Oh. Sorry if this chapter goes fast and it's random. I have no clue WHAT I was thinking when I wrote this two years ago. Bear with me._

**Death and a Little Romance!**

Part Two

Sokka wiped his forehead as sweat trickled down his forehead. Someone handed him a wet cloth, and he took it, setting it to his warm face. "Thanks, it's hot down here." He said, turning to look at his new best friend with the cool towels. "Jesse!" He shrieked.

He snapped around and grabbed her by the collar. "EEP!" she yelped. She had expected something more in the lines of 'thank you' or something.

"What are YOU doing in the forging room?" he asked, staring her down for answers. She'd been missing since yesterday. Come to think of it, he seemed to recall no one noticing her disappearance. "I'm workin' here!" Jesse smirked, not noticing that her toes weren't touching the ground. "I signed up to work here, and they sent me down as your assistant!" she said with a smile that seemed to reach from ear to ear, but you really couldn't see her ears at the moment because she wore her hair down today, and her hair was very long, so they covered her ears. Sokka only just now noticed how long hair could grow. He shook his head, pushing that thought aside. "Girls don't belong in a forge! Go play with your hair over in that corner or something!" Jesse stopped smiling in an instant, and returned to her venomous nature towards him. "Your pants are on fire" She said stiffly, flatly, and in a surprisingly calm voice. Sokka scoffed. "My pants aren't on fi-MY PANTS ARE ON FIRE!!" He dropped her, dancing around to find water, and she shrugged, going over to the furnace and taking out a newly molded sword with tongs, bringing it over to the metal table. She started shaping it properly with a small hammer, and Sokka started jumping around the forge with his pants on fire, trying to stop the spreading by hitting the spot where the fire was on his scorching pants. "It's sad. They made me your assistant because I was a girl and all and wouldn't give me a real job, but I do this way better then you. They should really get their priorities straight." She said, lifting the red-hot sword up to see how it was coming along.

Aang and Maru (Zuko) were soon glaring at each other again with the hatred of a thousand wolves, Katara oblivious. She only just noticed, too, that there were a lot of people sitting on these strangely carved benches that looked like hearts on two stork's beaks or something. 'Maru' grabbed her hand, tearing her from the scene of lovers that she was trying to figure out. "I need to talk to you for a second Katara…alone…" he said, glancing at Aang, who was on literally on fire from anger. 'why am I acting all weird?' he thought looking down, as red as a beet. He looked up, seeing a ton of little hearts flying around everywhere, people kissing at every corner. Oh. Maybe that was why. All Katara said was "…okay?" one of her eye brows slightly raised.

He only just now noticed how blue her eyes were. They were like sapphires, or the purest ocean…

'NO! Stop it!' he shook his head, noticing that he was leading her off towards a small trail. They were in a clearing before he even knew it. "So…" She put her free hand to her side. 'Awkward situation…' she thought, looking sideways, a little red in the face herself. She felt like there was a helium balloon in her stomach, about ready to bring her into the air at any second, but the bigger the balloons are, the harder they fall. Suddenly Maru leaned forward out of nowhere. Katara had no time to react, really, her eyes just sort of widened as her first kiss was stolen by someone she didn't even really know. Who also had a mask, so she didn't even know what he looked like really. Suddenly a bar of wind separated the two, forcing Katara to skid two inches. Maru, on the other hand, slammed into a tree, caught completely by surprise. His mask cracked in half and Katara's eyes widened even more, if that were possible. Aang was standing on a branch near Katara, trying not to get too mad in an unsuccessful way. "Zuko!" Aang growled, throwing that name at his enemy with as much hatred as he could muster. Katara just stared. Zuko was Maru? That didn't seem right. Her lips started to go numb, and she put her hands to her mouth. "Ma…ru?" she muttered, staring. Not in shock. Not even in disgust. She didn't know why, but she felt like she knew this was going to happen.

Jesse had her arms folded behind her head and Sokka was whistling next to her. Luckily his pants weren't on fire anymore because they were walking around town. Jesse was aloud to keep her first sword, and had been upgraded to forger, because the boss, finally going back to his senses, found Sokka to be an idiot. At the moment, Sokka was trying to catch her eye; he hadn't been able to say sorry about calling her a girl and all because she had been ignoring him. For some reason telling her her own gender pissed her off. She wasn't like the other girls he'd met. Or hung out with. Or…Kissed or anything.

"Uh…look, Jesse, about what I said back there…well, I didn't mean what I said." He said slowly, bringing up some courage. He was flushed. He usually never said sorry, or apologized, but he felt like what he had said back in the blacksmith forge was eating his heart out. He just couldn't take it anymore! Her silent treatment was driving him insane. Jesse grimaced as the aura around them started getting weird and dramatic. "S'okay Sokka." She said to try and make him stop doing whatever he was trying to do. Sokka sighed, "You sure don't sound like its 'okay'" he retorted. Jesse sighed this time. "Let's get some of those" She pointed to a sign that said 'Ice Cream! The new Earth Nation treat that will send your mouth soaring!'

Sokka seemed to smirk from ear to ear, "Okay!" Jesse was muttering something under her breath that sounded like "Boys…"

"…But I'm not buying." Sokka added as Jesse grabbed two ice cream cones from the counter and the man asked for six silver pieces.


	11. Death and a Little Romance Part Three

Death and a Little Romance

_Author's Note: Okay, so we had the romance. Guess what happens in this chapter._

**Death and a Little Romance**

Part Three

Sokka yelled in surprise at the taste for the ice cream, and started jumping from one foot to the other like an ecstatic child. Jesse grimaced, looking at it as if she didn't trust it, and thought it would explode on her at any moment. "Oh come on, it's not THAT hard to try something new, is it?" Sokka said, rolling his head around on his shoulders to look over at you. "That's what my mother said when she wanted me to try Lentil beans. I never tried anything new ever again." She said. "Plus, you look like it just killed all your brain cells."

Suddenly Sokka grabbed her hand, and put the ice cream right in front of her face "Well, never a better time to start trying new things again then now!" he exclaimed. "Hey!" Jesse yelled, struggling to yank her hand back. Sokka picked up one of the scoops that they gave him for a test taste, took some of her ice cream, and stuffed it into her mouth all in under just about half a second. She glared at him, and probably would have said something very nasty if her mouth wasn't full. Her eyes widen, there was a nasty silence. And then she swallowed, "THIS IS GOOD!" She said in shock, pointing at her ice cream as if she was seeing it in a whole new light. "See?" Sokka shrugged, "It's good to try out a few things once and a while." Jesse smiled, "Hee hee!" She sounded like she was going crazy or something; Sokka stared at her, "Are you feeling okay? Because you're creeping me out again and whenever you start doing that something bad happens." he asked, edging away a bit. "Shut up!" She snapped, stuffing more of the ice cream in her mouth. "Jerk." Walking away, Sokka sighed, jogging after her. "I was kidding! Get it? It was a joke."

"Ma…ru?" Katara felt like her legs turned to ice. Zuko glared up the avatar, who was giving him that look, AGAIN! Zuko gritted his teeth together in anger and annoyance. That look made his insides twist. "Leave Katara alone, Zuko!" Zuko stared. No; this was a different look, "Don't go near her ever again!"


	12. Maru No More

Maru No More

_Author's Note: Tricked you with that last note didn't I?_

**Maru No More**

"Don't touch her, ever again!" the avatar screamed.

"Wait!" Katara yelled, taking a step towards Zuko, and picking up a broken mask on the floor. She touched the design of a red stripe on the side; she wrinkled her brow, as if in deep thought. Suddenly she turned around and said "Let's go Aang." She started off towards the trail again, in a slumping sort of way. Aang glared at Zuko, who strangely felt a little satisfied inside. "Fine, be a coward Aang; run off with your little girlfriend." He whispered menacingly with a dark grin. Aang threw the mask into the side of his face. He stood still, a trail of blood trickling down his cheek like a streak coming from his eye. "AANG ISN'T THE COWARD HERE! YOU ARE!" Katara screamed, turning back around and throwing a rock at him. She seemed to be in a bad mood.

Aang jumped down, and landed between Katara and Zuko, straightening with a serious look on his face. "I don't know why you did what you did, but the next time I see you, it won't be fun and games anymore." He warned. He had wanted Zuko as a friend…But why was Zuko trying to get all….Googly with Katara? Did he know he liked her? Was he messing with his head?

Katara opened her eyes a bit at what he said, and she felt like the helium balloon that was in her stomach had just been crushed. 'He sounds just like Zuko…' she thought, staring at Aang in disbelief.

Jesse leaned backwards a bit, the sun hitting her face, "It's all going to change now, and there's nothing I can do to stop it." She said threw a soft and weary sigh. "Did you say something?" Sokka asked next to her, leaning back like her. Jesse smiled "No, it's nothing Sokka"

There was a rustling noise behind a bush in front of Sokka, and when he heard it, his warrior side pounced into action and he grabbed his boomerang. A girl tried to climb out of the bush, and looked up wearily. She looked around Jesse's age, had dark brown hair, and owned a pair of bright emerald green eyes. "JESSE! You're alive!" The girl yelled, making Sokka drop his weapon. Jesse cocked her head, and looked over at the girl. After seeing past the dirt and brambles in her hair, silence drifted past the two. "…I thought you were dead…Alisha?"

The supposed 'Alisha' ran out of the bushes without even caring that she just ripped her skirt, and Jesse jumped to her feet. The two hugged each other in a tight embrace, as if they hadn't seen each other in a million years. "How did you survive the fire?" Jesse said, letting go. Alisha smiled, brushing a branch off of her shoulder. A confused Sokka gawked at the two girls in the background. "I found out you were caught by the Fire Nation's Admiral Zhao and I went looking for you. Once I found you, I couldn't talk to you. You were on the move, so I followed and tracked you all the way here. Believe me. Flying Bison? Hardest things EVER to track."

Jesse frowned, "How could you do that all by yourself?"

"Oh, I wasn't alone! I found an Earthbender that wanted to go to the Earth Nation City, so I followed him." "Oh, where's the earthbender then?"


	13. The New Boy

The New Boy

_Author's Note: OMG I'M DONE! Okay, so this is what'll probably happen next. I'll start doing my homework again, and try to get my grades up. Ha ha. I won't have chapter 14 up tomorrow or the next day because my ninja skills I used to fix these need time to recover…_

**The New Boy**

Katara frowned. "Aang, let's go." She said firmly, fear in her voice. She couldn't explain what she was feeling just then. Anger? Misery? Sorrow? What was it? Katara slowly turned around, and disappeared into the trees near the trail, hoping Aang would follow. Hoping he'd start acting like himself again…. "Katara! Wait!" Aang yelled, forgetting all about Zuko. For the moment anyway. Zuko watched as the two left, and bent down, picking up the split half of his mask. That plan hadn't worked out so well.

_Why did you do that Zuko?_ A small voice in the back of his mind whispered menacingly to him.

I don't know…. He thought to himself while he set the split mask in his bag.

_Yes you do…_ the voice echoed in his mind. It was like a hungry tiger, watching his every emotion.

I said I don't, so I DON'T. He thought flatly, getting annoyed.

_You feel for the girl, don't you? You've had many adventures, but you've only known her as a thing in the way of the avatar, now what do you think she is now that you've been around her?_ It growled like a tiger even. This last remark from the beast in his heart really annoyed him. It annoyed him because he started to **wonder**…

Why am I talking to myself again? The teenage boy thought in anger, starting to get irritated by this little sliver in his mind that just didn't know when to stop.

_Ha, I was right…that's something to think over…_the voice chuckled, then it suddenly stopped.

What are you up to? HEY! He growled.

After a few seconds, he realized that he had just been murmuring to himself the whole time. Zuko looked around, and saw a little kid was staring at him. Why was there a KID in a clearing in the WOODS? When the kid noticed Zuko was staring at him, the kid stopped grinning. "Oh, don't mind me, keep talking…" the boy said, and stared at him again. Zuko raised an eyebrow.

"You're not too bright, are you?"

The boy kept staring. Zuko raised his head a bit, "How old are you?" the boy raised up his hand, put two fingers up, and said "Five!"

A boy walked slowly out of the brush, a big leaf over his head. He plucked the leaf off of his head, and Jesse's heart skipped a beat. He was very handsome, and seemed Sokka's age. After a long angry battle to try and see who was older, Jesse had given up, for Sokka was a whole 10 months older then herself. She had no idea how old he would be to this earthbender…Sokka snuck a look at Jesse and paused. "Do you know hi- HEY! Why is your face red? Do you have a fever?" He put a hand up to her face; it was a bit warm, but for the wrong reason. Jesse whapped his hand away with a roll of her eyes.

"I don't have a fever, Sokka, trust me." She said.

The boy smiled a smile that probably had melted a thousand hearts before hers, but hers didn't melt. It singed instead. Jesse wasn't a person to just immediately trust someone. Anyone, for that matter. She still liked him a bit though. Okay, a lot. But only in the 'he's attractive' way. She noticed Alisha had said something. 'uh-oh. Should I nod or ask what she said?' she thought, not wanting to seem weird. "Huh? What, sorry, I didn't hear you, what did you say?" Alisha was a shrugger-offer; she didn't mind saying stuff, unless it was like 50 times. "What is that?" She pointed to the ice cream in Jesse's hand. "Oh, I think it's called Ice Cream. Vanilla flavored, something the Earth Kingdom invented." She said, slowly, and discouragingly coming back to reality. Alisha stared at it like a cat with a saucer of milk…sort of, except she wasn't a cat, she was a human…Jesse sighed, "Here, have mine." She said reluctantly. Ice cream was really good, but it was only natural for Jesse to pay Alisha back for traveling all the way across the ocean (Sort of) to see her. Alisha thanked her, took a bite, and ended up freaking out for 5 minutes straight after words about how delicious it was. Turning over to the earthbender, Jesse said "So, what's your name?" trying to talk cool and calm about it and act as if she wasn't too interested. The boy looked over at her as he put a stalk of wheat in his mouth. "Mine?" He asked, starting to chew on it. "Yeah." She said.

"It's Jet."


End file.
